No problems here in my corner of PA. Not a corner actually but dead in the middle.
We now have the electronic touch screens, which I was dismayed to see. A poll worker stood behind me to the side, close enough to read how I voted, but it's a small town and I didn't feel like antagonizing the old fellow.
By the way, while I was there, 2 vets of WW2 were there, one helping the other who was on a walker. They were talking like it was 1945 and they'd just wiped up the Axis. They were talking about Iraq and how, now that Saddam is out, the Iraqis should handle their own affairs and we should get out of there. It's back to American isolationism, I think. And it's an understandable sentiment; heck, George Washington felt the same way. But these men---and they're Republicans, since I heard them using bad words about Dems---are not into idealism, and they're not patient. They're peeved. What's most startling to me is that of all the things I heard at the polls today, there wasn't a word about taxes or jobs. People talked about pro-life, Iraq, and the personal character of some local candidates.
Well. If we lose, maybe it will result in a win in 2008.
There have been problems everywhere. Bipartisan problems too. No ballots in Republican districts. Malfunctioning voter key cards in democrat districts. Broken Diebold Machines, broken scanner machines. Polls opening late. 3 hours to get somebody to fix the broken machines. This is 2006. Is it this hard to run an election?
Both sides now are going to have legitimate gripes. In a close race, those missing Republican ballots, or those broken democratic key cards are going to cost somebody a tight election. It may not be for the house. It could be for city council, board of supervisors or something. But people are getting screwed by the screw ups.
No problems for my daughter and me this afternoon in Delaware County, Pa. (philly burbs)
It was the new machine, registered a red X for each candidate, then push the green Vote button, and done.
"Rendell votes are counting for Swann."
YES!!!
"Santorum votes are counting for Casey"
OH, WAIT, DAMN THATS BAD!
These problems, all over this country, do not have to happen. We are the USA, the most technologically advanced, most ingenious country in the world and we cannot have an election without widespread problems, fraud and deceit.
And, once this election is over and all the court cases settled, everything will be forgotten until 2008, when it will happen all over again.
Why? Because neither political party is willing to go full force and FIX THE DAMN PROBLEM! Honest to God, I truly believe that both parties like this turmoil. They either believe that:
1. Turmoil brings interest in the races
or
2. Turmoil lowers voter turnout, which both parties believe helps them at one time or another
No wonder people believe their votes will not count.
30,000 dead people registered in Missouri?
Electronic voting machine problems out the wazoo?
Paying for votes, not enough ballots, voting places opening late, signs can be up, signs can be down, manipulation of reported results by the media, etc., etc.
This is absolutely ridiculous. Once this election fiasco is over, we the peeples must, absolutely must, demand that this system be fixed RIGHT!!
It can be done, but will never be done as long as each party blames the other, as long as Dims demand that anyone can vote without ID, as long as the ACLU and other anti-American liberal groups get involved.
I have seen a lot of elections in my life. Most of the problems we see we have seen before. But the sheer magnitude of the problems this year leave me very worried that the integrity of our voting system is gone, the very essence of our Republic.
God help us all.
Here in Oklahoma all of our 77 counties use the ballots where you draw two arrows together and when put in the machine it counts the ballots. Every recount that has occured since I have lived here in right on the money including one that a Republican won by 10 votes and after recount he won by 10 votes.
Our machines may not be the newest but voter fraud in the machine isn't going to happen and you have a paper trail in case there is a recount.
About time every state used these machines with a paper trail IMHO! Every voter has a right to use a paper ballot so they know in the end their ballot will count in a recount not some machine that can be rigged to vote straight Dem.
There was a instance I believe in PA where a voter tried to vote straight Republican and the machine would not accept until a poll worker helped out. That smells.
I've had a computer for over 20 years -- C-64 was my first. I love computers. I'm writing on a computer. But to expect tens of thousands of computers to work 100% of the time, simultaneously, nationwide for an entire day is ridiculous, even when experts are running them. And our computers in elections are most often overseen by -- how to put this? -- by people who probably had an "ice box", a "wood stove" and a car with a "rumble seat" when they were kids.
This could get ugly.
I just voted. Everything went well.
I voted about 4 pm today in eastern Berks county. The little old ladies were in the back of the machine, "making sure that everything worked properly," they said. Hope they weren't up to no good.
We just voted over here in Montgomery Co. Everything went smoothly, even with high turn-out (more than we ever saw in San Diego, CA).
Didn't see any strange occurrences when I voted, either, though I was expecting a touch-screen or similar and it was some kind of electronic push button thing.